Why the aggravation?

摘要

"Better sixty years of tyranny than D one day of fitna." The term in the Arabic saying refers to civil strife, particularly the kind caused by religious schism. Not only is fitna a calamitous sign of the coming day of judgment; it also reflects fears deeply embedded in Muslim memory. The schism between Sunnis and Shias in the early centuries of Islam was blamed for blunting the new religion's expansion. Later, it was blamed for weakening Muslims in general, and for opening the way to invasion by infidel hordes.